As 2019 comes to an end, there are several items that non-profits and government need to finalize in December to successfully close out the year. By being proactive this month and following our checklist, you can wrap up 2019 on a positive note and avoid some of that year-end stress – workwise at least.
Here is EMK’s suggested checklist for non-profits and governments to follow at year end:
- Year-end strategy. While this sounds rudimentary, year-end close hits at the time when many employees take vacation and holiday schedules interrupt the financial institutions and vendors that provide the information you need. December is the time to determine who will gather information for year-end close, when information such as bank statements will be ready, and who will complete the final reports. Assign tasks and due dates to ensure everything gets done before your office is vacant over the holidays.
- Historical reporting. Tap into the power of your fund accounting system to run 2019 reports now to verify information for year-end processing. For example, to ensure that your W2’s will be accurate, run an employee history detail report. By verifying the information on this report, you will have the opportunity to make payroll adjustments/corrections before the last pay of the year. If historical reports are not easy to get out of your current software, give us a call so we can explore new options with you for 2020.
- Affordable Care Act reporting. If you need to produce Affordable Care Act forms and haven’t set them up in your current payroll system, you may be able to import the necessary information so that you can run them for 2019.
- 1099 Miscellaneous Forms. Verify that your Accounts Payable information is correct so that you can process your 1099 Misc forms. You can do this by running a vendor history report for the year and verifying that the 1099 vendors are coded so that they can be extracted for 1099 processing. Hopefully, you have W9s to substantiate your information.
- Chart of Accounts and Fund Accounting. Review your chart of accounts in your fund accounting system. This would be the time to make changes or add departments/cost centers for the new year. Here’s a great resource for evaluating new Fund Accounting software for maximum efficiency in 2020.
- Proactive Reconciliation. Before 2019 officially closes, reconcile your bank statements, invoices, credit card accounts, and other information to ensure that your year-end reporting is up to date and accurate. You won’t be able to finalize 2019 until you receive the final December statements from your financial institutions, but this preparation will make the year end process much easier.
- System Backup. You absolutely don’t want to risk losing an entire year of accounting data – talk about a year-end nightmare! Backup your entire system with a fresh backup drive and label it as your 2019 financial records.
Fund Accounting Software Support
One of the most important aspects of any fund accounting system is the support provided by the reseller and the software vendor. At EMK Inc, we offer implementation, training and ongoing support services to all our customers. We understand the time and money invested into a fund accounting system can be considerable for our customers and we’re here to ensure that at every step of the way, you’ll have experts available to answer questions or help you get the information you need.
EMK offers a range of nonprofit and government software support services to help you choose the right fund accounting system. These services include:
- Consulting to gather data needed to create a solid software transition plan
- Software selection and review
- Data migration from old systems to new ones
- Training for your whole team
- Post-integration support
Fund accounting software support doesn’t end when you’ve become our client. It continues long after when you need us, as you need us, to ensure you get the most from your system. When assessing if your current nonprofit or government financial software is meeting your needs to move forward into 2020, please contact EMK and we would be happy to explore this with you.